Case Study with Melissa Hilton at Erie Family Health: Relational Fundraising for a $100M+ FQHC

Melissa Hilton uses her diverse background to get the most out of the relationships she holds with her donors. As the Vice President of fundraising efforts for Erie Family Health, a $100M+ FQHC, you have to think outside of the box to not only maintain relationships with donors, but help them understand the most important needs of your organization, and the funds it requires to achieve that. Sherry and Melissa discuss FQHC's, the balancing act of managing your annual fund with a capital campaign, and dive into the details of how your relationships  truly impact your fundraising efforts.

 

What You Will Discover: 

✔️ Fundraising is an opportunity to build relationships and communicate the great work of an organization.

✔️ Outside help, such as consultants and coaches, can provide fresh perspectives and valuable tools for fundraising success.

✔️ Tools like the conversation prompt and the case for support can simplify and enhance fundraising conversations.

✔️ Balancing the annual fund and a capital campaign requires strategic planning and understanding donor preferences.

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Melissa Hilton joined Erie Family Health Centers (Erie) in 2012 and currently leads its fundraising efforts as Vice President, Development and Executive Director, Erie Family Health Foundation. In this capacity, she is responsible for developing and executing strategies to expand governmental and philanthropic support to advance Erie’s mission. A skilled relationship-builder, Ms. Hilton oversees a team of 10 and leads initiatives to deepen philanthropic partnerships to help sustain Erie’s capacity to bring affordable, holistic and exceptional healthcare to more than 88,000 patients—and growing. Earlier in her Erie career, Ms. Hilton also oversaw the Marketing team and grew this function to encompass internal and external communications, advertising and digital marketing, branding and graphic design, and community engagement.

Prior to joining Erie, Ms. Hilton served in roles of increasing responsibility over 16 years at The Field Museum. Most recently, she was Vice President, Board Relations and Senior Director, Institutional Advancement, where she worked in partnership with the Museum President to manage the work of The Field’s 85-member board of trustees and directed planned giving. Her professional experience also includes working as a public finance investment banker, as a legislative assistant and press secretary for a member of Congress, and as press assistant at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ms. Hilton received a bachelor of arts degree in English from Yale University where she graduated summa cum laude and a master of business administration from the Yale School of Management.

Ms. Hilton is a member of the Advisory Council for GirlForward and serves as a member of the Yale Alumni Fund (YAF) Board of Directors and Co-Chair of YAF Agents for her undergraduate class.

 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-hilton-4632463/

Website: https://www.eriefamilyhealth.org/

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Welcome to the Business Behind Fundraising podcast, where you’ll discover how to raise the kind of money your big vision requires without adding more events, appeals, or grant applications. Learn how to stop blocking overall revenue growth and start attracting investment-level donors with Sherry Quam Taylor.

Sherry Quam Taylor’s unique approach and success combine her background of scaling businesses with her decade-long experience advising nonprofit leadership teams. With out-of-the-box principles and a myth-busting methodology, proven results, and an ability to see solutions to revenue problems that others overlook, her clients regularly add 7-figures of revenue to their bottom line.

If you need a true partner to show you how to fully finance your entire mission, both programs, AND overhead, year after year… You’re in the right place!

 

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